Projects

Abstract

In Suki Kim’s The Interpreter, she establishes Suzy as the determined, inquisitive protagonist who constantly seeks out more information about the mysteries surrounding her parents’ murder, her sister’s disappearance, and the overarching connection of these events to their community. This participation contrasts the police’s silence, their quick dismissal of it as a gang crime, and their hesitation to dig deeper. Kim brings attention to the rampant fear within the Korean immigrant communities regarding interactions with the government in general due to the looming threat of deportation. Kim strongly depicts the isolation and the marginalization of a protagonist who is part of an immigrant group in order to highlight the importance of individual community members’ involvement in solving a murder mystery, as opposed to the police’s/government’s involvement. Suzy’s isolation appears in her inner thought processes and solo journeys to visit the site of her parents' ashes, gang members, and so on. Her marginalization is clear in the police’s failure to prioritize the case, along with the community’s lack of access to helpful resources and positive attention. In this essay, I examine the limiting walls that existing immigrant communities face when in need of answers to serious situations, but I also illuminate the crucial role of people belonging to these groups in such circumstances. A significant aspect of this necessity is the inner workings and nuances in a minority culture that only people within it can understand. Kim consequently shows how Suzy uses her intuitive comprehension of these details to successfully solve the mysteries.